It's the last thing in the world Haru wants to hear.
Dozens of things, enough things, have happened in only the last couple of days; just thinking about it all is enough to make Haru's head spin. Funny, how she'd once been so proud of the way she was able to retain so much information, but here, it takes all her strength just to keep a smile on her face as she muffles everything else in her that's screaming. Time travel would have been fun, interesting, if not for nearly dying and knowing that even stepping outside could not only get her killed, but lead to all her friends- no. It doesn't bear thinking about, so she does her best not to. Instead, Haru tries to do what she can do: busying herself with cooking and cleaning and all the little mundane things of life she used to do in her own home anyway. It's what she was doing just then, in fact, futzing around in the kitchen.
Hearing Kyoko suddenly call out that name, however, nearly does her in.
Stiff as a board, she looks over her shoulder and, for the first time in her life, lays eyes on Hibari Kyoya.
For about a split second, she forgets about the peculiar time travel circumstances she's trapped in and can only blink. To her surprise, he... almost seems like any other Japanese man. Not that she's saying he's not unattractive, because he is. With short dark hair that falls around his face like feathers and sword sharp gray eyes, he's rather handsome, and the suit he has wrapped around his frame fits him dashingly. It's just... He's not what she was expecting.
Belatedly, it occurs to her that some of her fantasies about him might have leaned on the very fantastical side of things and, maybe, just maybe, outfitted him with giant fangs and wings, or other things.
Even as she's staring at him, Hibari seems to ignore both her and Kyoko completely as he glances around casually at the kitchen area. There's no reading his expression, which Haru could only venture to guess is maybe curious, and, when he finally looks over to them, it's like more of a coincidence than anything.
Haru keeps her mouth completely shut. Maybe, if she's lucky and just doesn't do anything, he won't realize they're soulmates and she can move on with her grand master plan. She can hope, can't see? Yet right as she thinks that, his gaze settles onto her once more with purpose, and he begins to stride towards her. Any attempt at speaking gets smothered somewhere in her throat as he comes closer, stopping only a sparse few inches away. She almost goes toppling backwards when he suddenly leads forward, wanting to lean back and away. This close, she sees how his nose twitches once then twice....
He grins, predatory and satisfied.
"Found you."
And then, while Haru's heart is threatening to break out of her rib cage, he turns on his heel and walks right out again.
Actually, no, it's worse than just walking away. He's yawning, head turned enough that she can see how his eyes squint, a lazy cat who's gotten bored with it all. While she's still staring in bewilderment, a stern looking man in a matching suit and a pompadour follows after Hibari loyally as they disappear out of sight and into the hallway.
When their footsteps have faded out of hearing, Kyoko steps closer. "Haru-chan?"
Haru squeaks. She thinks she might be offended.
"Are you okay, Haru-chan?"
Another squeak, and that seems to clear up the surprise that's been lodged in her throat this whole time. Haru jerks up straight with a stomp of her foot, cheeks puffing out. "Hiee, what a weirdo! Kyoko-chan, is that the person who runs Namimori and who Gokudera-kun complains about all the time!?"
Kyoko giggles into her hand. "That's the weirdo who runs our school," she confirms. "But I've never heard about him acting like that before. I wonder if something changed in ten years? I mean, he is older now- Do you think he knows your older self?"
Pouting, Haru makes a show of crossing her arms and turning away. "Then I must develop really bad taste !" Kyoko laughs, the kids burst in, and they all move on.
Well.
Haru tries to move on. She really does! After all, she's already made her decision to ignore the names on her skin and done a pretty good job over the few years since deciding that. So what if she's finally met one of her soulmates? So what if he apparently just viewed her as a toy to hunt down? So what if he apparently thinks she's not good enough to really pursue? She doesn't care! She really doesn't care.
A couple of days later, Haru has to admit she cares maybe a lot when she asks Giannini where she could find where Hibari and his assistant live in the base.
Perhaps a little nervously, she eyes the enormous door in front of her. Looking at it, she knows it's almost exactly the same as so many other doors in the base. There's nothing uniquely scary about it, besides the general stern feeling that a giant metal door gives off anyway. But... All these years, determinedly telling herself she'd never meet her soulmates, actively hiding and running away from one... It's left her more than a little mentally unprepared for actually going to talk to one of them.
Right when she's taken a deep breath and reached forward for the button on the door, it suddenly opens, and she jolts back with a strangled noise of surprise. In the doorway, the man with the pompadour pauses as he looks down at her before his expression turns apologetic. "Ah, Miura-san. I apologize for startling you." For all that he's so intimidating with his height and rough features, he doesn't hesitate at all in bowing to her. It feels like a first.
Remembering herself, she hastily bows back. "It's alright, I was intruding! I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."
"Of course. I'm Kusakabe Tetsuya."
"Kusakabe-san, then. May I ask if Hibari-san is available...?"
A glimmer of expectation- maybe amusement?- can be seen in his eyes before he bows his head. "He is. However, I'm afraid he only accepts guests when they're dressed in a particular manner- yukata or kimono. It's a non-negotiable requirement."
Oh. Well. That's a problem she couldn't have ever imagined running into.
As Haru stands there, frozen in spot and wondering if it would be possible to hastily make a decent kimono out of spare bed sheets, Kusakabe smiles slightly. "We should have a spare kimono in storage. If I recall correctly, it shouldn't be too large on you. Please wait a moment." It only takes him a few minutes before he's back with a large box in his arms, the wood shiny and clearly well taken care of. "Would you like help taking it to your room?"
"I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time, Kusakabe-san!"
"It's fine, I promise."
Haru hadn't wanted to drag anyone else into this whole thing, but, well... A kimono isn't something that's easy to put on all by herself. With Kyoko enlisted as help, Haru carefully goes through the box and unwraps the tatou-shi that's been wrapped around the delicate garment. Even at a glance, it's painfully obvious how each and every part they remove is high class. Haru wouldn't consider herself a kimono expert, but she knows her textiles. Every stitch has been done with the absolute care, and the colors infused into all of the fabrics fairly glow with brilliance. When they pull out the final piece, Hana gives a squeak.
"Kyoko-chan!"
"Ooh..." Making a noise of awe as they carefully pull it out, Kyoko looks over the piece. "It's an uchikake... I don't think I've gotten to see one so close like this. The pattern is really beautiful."
It's true. Set against the brilliant red of the fabric, the pattern is stunning: peony and camellia flowers in a variety of soft shades such as pink, white, blue, and purple. Dispersed amongst the flowers are what appear to be folded-paper butterflies, done in glimmering metallic thread and in sets of threes from what Haru can tell. The whole thing goes wonderfully with the kimono meant to go underneath it: soft greens bringing out the brightness of the flowers, patterns flowing alongside one another in perfect sync. When Haru has looked up the traditional Shinto wedding ceremonies for soulmates, this is exactly the kind of outfit she's daydreamed about.
So she absolutely can't wear it.
"Why did Kusakabe-san bring this of all things!?" she squeaks, glancing over to the undergarments of the whole ensemble and wondering if it would be too rude to just get away with those. "There wasn't anything else?"
"Well... I suppose anything else would be for a grown woman, right?" Kyoko tries to offer, stepping back to look at all of the pieces assembled. "Maybe this is all there was for someone our size. Do you think maybe this belonged to Kusakabe-san's soulmate? That would explain why they kept it in such a safe place like the base."
Immediately, relief washes down through her and into her stomach. "Maybe that's it, Kyoko-chan. I probably shouldn't leave it here in case Ipin-chan and Lambo-kun find it and get it dirty..."
Haru still isn't sure about taking it with her, however, right up until there's a knock at the door while Kyoko is still helping her into the kimono and Kusakabe's voice comes through."Miura-san, are you ready?"
"Ah- almost, Kusakabe-san!" Biting her lip, Haru looks back to the resplendent uchikake still draped over the bed. "Um, about the kimono you brought me..."
"Is it too large?"
"No! It's only a little oversized!" A true enough statement. It's just a little too long by a few inches but, with how an uchikake is designed to start with, she supposes it's not as noticeable as it might be with any other kimono. "But... Is it really alright for me to wear something like this? I mean, it must be really valuable!"
"Please don't be too concerned, Miura-san. It's more than acceptable for you to wear it. I insist."
Well. She guesses there's no arguing with that. Feeling like a little girl getting to wear a princess gown, Haru slips on the rest of the kimono with Kyoko's help. As much as she'd like to marvel at the luxurious feel of the fabric, it would be rude to keep Kusakabe waiting. He gives her a pleasant enough smile when she opens the door and then immediately he starts to escort her back to the Foundation's portion of the base. As Haru glances back behind her, Kyoko gives her an encouraging wave. "Good luck speaking with Hibari-san!"
Meeting with Hibari at all when he found her probably means Haru's luck is tremendously bad as it is, but she's not going to let that stop her.
Through the base, down an elevator, and the metal doors slide open to reveal something Haru didn't think was possible so deep beneath the earth: soft warm sunlight filtering through paper walls over tatami flooring. In the distance, water burbles lazily and a lone bird's song echoes through the halls. If not for the cold metal structure of the elevator and Kusakabe's neatly pressed suit, Haru would almost believe she's time traveled again. It's not until he speaks up that she stops gaping. "Hibari-san's family has always been traditional in some aspects, and that trait has carried down to him. He insisted that levels in our base be constructed to this aesthetic. The light isn't true sunlight, but systems that have been built to mimic it. This way, please."
Letting him guide her through the serene hallways, Haru peers through any open room that they pass. "It's really beautiful. I didn't expect for Hibari-san to have this kind of taste."
"He can be surprising to those who don't know him." Kusakabe falls silent as they approach one door in particular, sliding it open only an inch or two. "Hibari-san, Miura-san is here to visit." He watches for a moment, apparently seeing some gesture of confirmation before he slides the door open wider and bows to Haru as she shuffles in with her back kept as straight as possible.
1
It's the last thing in the world Haru wants to hear.
Dozens of things, enough things, have happened in only the last couple of days; just thinking about it all is enough to make Haru's head spin. Funny, how she'd once been so proud of the way she was able to retain so much information, but here, it takes all her strength just to keep a smile on her face as she muffles everything else in her that's screaming. Time travel would have been fun, interesting, if not for nearly dying and knowing that even stepping outside could not only get her killed, but lead to all her friends- no. It doesn't bear thinking about, so she does her best not to. Instead, Haru tries to do what she can do: busying herself with cooking and cleaning and all the little mundane things of life she used to do in her own home anyway. It's what she was doing just then, in fact, futzing around in the kitchen.
Hearing Kyoko suddenly call out that name, however, nearly does her in.
Stiff as a board, she looks over her shoulder and, for the first time in her life, lays eyes on Hibari Kyoya.
For about a split second, she forgets about the peculiar time travel circumstances she's trapped in and can only blink. To her surprise, he... almost seems like any other Japanese man. Not that she's saying he's not unattractive, because he is. With short dark hair that falls around his face like feathers and sword sharp gray eyes, he's rather handsome, and the suit he has wrapped around his frame fits him dashingly. It's just... He's not what she was expecting.
Belatedly, it occurs to her that some of her fantasies about him might have leaned on the very fantastical side of things and, maybe, just maybe, outfitted him with giant fangs and wings, or other things.
Even as she's staring at him, Hibari seems to ignore both her and Kyoko completely as he glances around casually at the kitchen area. There's no reading his expression, which Haru could only venture to guess is maybe curious, and, when he finally looks over to them, it's like more of a coincidence than anything.
Haru keeps her mouth completely shut. Maybe, if she's lucky and just doesn't do anything, he won't realize they're soulmates and she can move on with her grand master plan. She can hope, can't see? Yet right as she thinks that, his gaze settles onto her once more with purpose, and he begins to stride towards her. Any attempt at speaking gets smothered somewhere in her throat as he comes closer, stopping only a sparse few inches away. She almost goes toppling backwards when he suddenly leads forward, wanting to lean back and away. This close, she sees how his nose twitches once then twice....
He grins, predatory and satisfied.
"Found you."
And then, while Haru's heart is threatening to break out of her rib cage, he turns on his heel and walks right out again.
Actually, no, it's worse than just walking away. He's yawning, head turned enough that she can see how his eyes squint, a lazy cat who's gotten bored with it all. While she's still staring in bewilderment, a stern looking man in a matching suit and a pompadour follows after Hibari loyally as they disappear out of sight and into the hallway.
When their footsteps have faded out of hearing, Kyoko steps closer. "Haru-chan?"
Haru squeaks. She thinks she might be offended.
"Are you okay, Haru-chan?"
Another squeak, and that seems to clear up the surprise that's been lodged in her throat this whole time. Haru jerks up straight with a stomp of her foot, cheeks puffing out. "Hiee, what a weirdo! Kyoko-chan, is that the person who runs Namimori and who Gokudera-kun complains about all the time!?"
Kyoko giggles into her hand. "That's the weirdo who runs our school," she confirms. "But I've never heard about him acting like that before. I wonder if something changed in ten years? I mean, he is older now- Do you think he knows your older self?"
Pouting, Haru makes a show of crossing her arms and turning away. "Then I must develop really bad taste !" Kyoko laughs, the kids burst in, and they all move on.
Well.
Haru tries to move on. She really does! After all, she's already made her decision to ignore the names on her skin and done a pretty good job over the few years since deciding that. So what if she's finally met one of her soulmates? So what if he apparently just viewed her as a toy to hunt down? So what if he apparently thinks she's not good enough to really pursue? She doesn't care! She really doesn't care.
A couple of days later, Haru has to admit she cares maybe a lot when she asks Giannini where she could find where Hibari and his assistant live in the base.
Perhaps a little nervously, she eyes the enormous door in front of her. Looking at it, she knows it's almost exactly the same as so many other doors in the base. There's nothing uniquely scary about it, besides the general stern feeling that a giant metal door gives off anyway. But... All these years, determinedly telling herself she'd never meet her soulmates, actively hiding and running away from one... It's left her more than a little mentally unprepared for actually going to talk to one of them.
Right when she's taken a deep breath and reached forward for the button on the door, it suddenly opens, and she jolts back with a strangled noise of surprise. In the doorway, the man with the pompadour pauses as he looks down at her before his expression turns apologetic. "Ah, Miura-san. I apologize for startling you." For all that he's so intimidating with his height and rough features, he doesn't hesitate at all in bowing to her. It feels like a first.
Remembering herself, she hastily bows back. "It's alright, I was intruding! I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."
"Of course. I'm Kusakabe Tetsuya."
"Kusakabe-san, then. May I ask if Hibari-san is available...?"
A glimmer of expectation- maybe amusement?- can be seen in his eyes before he bows his head. "He is. However, I'm afraid he only accepts guests when they're dressed in a particular manner- yukata or kimono. It's a non-negotiable requirement."
Oh. Well. That's a problem she couldn't have ever imagined running into.
As Haru stands there, frozen in spot and wondering if it would be possible to hastily make a decent kimono out of spare bed sheets, Kusakabe smiles slightly. "We should have a spare kimono in storage. If I recall correctly, it shouldn't be too large on you. Please wait a moment." It only takes him a few minutes before he's back with a large box in his arms, the wood shiny and clearly well taken care of. "Would you like help taking it to your room?"
"I wouldn't want to take up too much of your time, Kusakabe-san!"
"It's fine, I promise."
Haru hadn't wanted to drag anyone else into this whole thing, but, well... A kimono isn't something that's easy to put on all by herself. With Kyoko enlisted as help, Haru carefully goes through the box and unwraps the tatou-shi that's been wrapped around the delicate garment. Even at a glance, it's painfully obvious how each and every part they remove is high class. Haru wouldn't consider herself a kimono expert, but she knows her textiles. Every stitch has been done with the absolute care, and the colors infused into all of the fabrics fairly glow with brilliance. When they pull out the final piece, Hana gives a squeak.
"Kyoko-chan!"
"Ooh..." Making a noise of awe as they carefully pull it out, Kyoko looks over the piece. "It's an uchikake... I don't think I've gotten to see one so close like this. The pattern is really beautiful."
It's true. Set against the brilliant red of the fabric, the pattern is stunning: peony and camellia flowers in a variety of soft shades such as pink, white, blue, and purple. Dispersed amongst the flowers are what appear to be folded-paper butterflies, done in glimmering metallic thread and in sets of threes from what Haru can tell. The whole thing goes wonderfully with the kimono meant to go underneath it: soft greens bringing out the brightness of the flowers, patterns flowing alongside one another in perfect sync. When Haru has looked up the traditional Shinto wedding ceremonies for soulmates, this is exactly the kind of outfit she's daydreamed about.
So she absolutely can't wear it.
"Why did Kusakabe-san bring this of all things!?" she squeaks, glancing over to the undergarments of the whole ensemble and wondering if it would be too rude to just get away with those. "There wasn't anything else?"
"Well... I suppose anything else would be for a grown woman, right?" Kyoko tries to offer, stepping back to look at all of the pieces assembled. "Maybe this is all there was for someone our size. Do you think maybe this belonged to Kusakabe-san's soulmate? That would explain why they kept it in such a safe place like the base."
Immediately, relief washes down through her and into her stomach. "Maybe that's it, Kyoko-chan. I probably shouldn't leave it here in case Ipin-chan and Lambo-kun find it and get it dirty..."
Haru still isn't sure about taking it with her, however, right up until there's a knock at the door while Kyoko is still helping her into the kimono and Kusakabe's voice comes through."Miura-san, are you ready?"
"Ah- almost, Kusakabe-san!" Biting her lip, Haru looks back to the resplendent uchikake still draped over the bed. "Um, about the kimono you brought me..."
"Is it too large?"
"No! It's only a little oversized!" A true enough statement. It's just a little too long by a few inches but, with how an uchikake is designed to start with, she supposes it's not as noticeable as it might be with any other kimono. "But... Is it really alright for me to wear something like this? I mean, it must be really valuable!"
"Please don't be too concerned, Miura-san. It's more than acceptable for you to wear it. I insist."
Well. She guesses there's no arguing with that. Feeling like a little girl getting to wear a princess gown, Haru slips on the rest of the kimono with Kyoko's help. As much as she'd like to marvel at the luxurious feel of the fabric, it would be rude to keep Kusakabe waiting. He gives her a pleasant enough smile when she opens the door and then immediately he starts to escort her back to the Foundation's portion of the base. As Haru glances back behind her, Kyoko gives her an encouraging wave. "Good luck speaking with Hibari-san!"
Meeting with Hibari at all when he found her probably means Haru's luck is tremendously bad as it is, but she's not going to let that stop her.
Through the base, down an elevator, and the metal doors slide open to reveal something Haru didn't think was possible so deep beneath the earth: soft warm sunlight filtering through paper walls over tatami flooring. In the distance, water burbles lazily and a lone bird's song echoes through the halls. If not for the cold metal structure of the elevator and Kusakabe's neatly pressed suit, Haru would almost believe she's time traveled again. It's not until he speaks up that she stops gaping. "Hibari-san's family has always been traditional in some aspects, and that trait has carried down to him. He insisted that levels in our base be constructed to this aesthetic. The light isn't true sunlight, but systems that have been built to mimic it. This way, please."
Letting him guide her through the serene hallways, Haru peers through any open room that they pass. "It's really beautiful. I didn't expect for Hibari-san to have this kind of taste."
"He can be surprising to those who don't know him." Kusakabe falls silent as they approach one door in particular, sliding it open only an inch or two. "Hibari-san, Miura-san is here to visit." He watches for a moment, apparently seeing some gesture of confirmation before he slides the door open wider and bows to Haru as she shuffles in with her back kept as straight as possible.